Differences between semen (maniy) and urethral fluid (madhiy)

Question

some times when i wake up in the morning, i find some wet coming out.
Please don't take it as a wet dream, or urine, becuase the sticky stuff comes out usually
just after i have woken up in the morning. Most of the days i have to wash my under wear
just becasue of that, and sometimes i wash my pants too.
I read it somewhere that if its not semen, just that sticky stuff than we
don't need to perform ghusl, and only wuzu is enough to offer prayers. If it is then what
about the clothes?. The same stuff comes out during some salacious situations also, though
i try to stay away from all that kind of stuff.

Answer

The first difference: qualities

Semen in the case of men is a thick, white liquid, and in the case of
women it is thin and yellow. (Translators note: the word maniy is used to
refer to the fluid secreted by either male or female at the time of orgasm).

The source for these descriptions of maniy come from the hadeeth
of Umm Sulaym (may Allaah be pleased with her), who asked the Prophet
(peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) about a woman who sees a dream like a man sees (i.e., an
erotic dream). The Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him)
said: If a woman sees that, she should do ghusl. Umm Sulaym said: I felt shy
when I heard that. She asked, Is that possible? The Prophet
(peace and
blessings of Allaah be upon him) said: How else would the child resemble his father
or mother? The water of the man is thick and white, and the water of the woman is thin and
yellow. Whichever of the two prevails or comes first decides which parent the child will
resemble.

(Agreed upon. Saheeh Muslim, 469).

In his commentary on Saheeh Muslim (3/222), Imaam
al-Nawawi said, concerning the words of the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be
upon him) The water of the man is thick and white, and the water of the woman is
thin and yellow: This is an important criterion in describing maniy.
This description applies when a person is healthy, and in most cases. The scholars said:
when a man is healthy, his semen is white and thick, and gushes out in spurts accompanied
by feelings of pleasure. After it has come out, it is followed immediately by a feeling of
being drained and exhausted. Its smell is like that of palm tree pollen, which in turn
resembles the smell of dough (the colour of semen may change for a number of
reasons, including the following): If a person is sick his semen may become thin
and yellow, or his testicles may become slack or soft, with the result that the emission
of semen is not accompanied by any feelings of pleasure. If a man engages in intercourse
too frequently, his semen may become red and resemble the juice that comes from meat, or
may even contain blood [ameet???]. There are three distinguishing features of semen,
the presence of any of which is sufficient for it to be classified as semen: firstly, its
emission is accompanied by feelings of pleasure and is immediately followed by exhaustion;
secondly, it smells like palm tree pollen, as stated above; and thirdly, it gushes out in
spurts. Each one of these three characteristics is sufficient for it to be defined as
semen; it is not necessary for all three features to be present. If none of them are
present, the substance cannot be described as semen and in all likelihood it is not. All
of the above applies to the maniy of men; in the case of women, their maniy
is thin and yellow, although it could become white if the woman is strong. It has two
distinguishing characteristics, either of which is sufficient to class the substance as maniy:
firstly, it smells like the maniy of men, and secondly, its emission is accompanied
by feelings of pleasure and is immediately followed by exhaustion.

Madhiy, on the other hand, is a sticky white fluid that is
emitted when a person is thinking of or desiring intercourse. Its emission is not
accompanied by feelings of pleasure, it does not gush out in spurts, and it is not
followed by exhaustion. This may happen to men and women alike, although it is more common
among women. This is the comment of Imaam al-Nawawi in his commentary on Muslim

(Sharh
Muslim, 3/213).

The second difference: what should be done after
emission of either type of fluid

When maniy is emitted, a person must perform ghusl to clean
himself from sexual impurity (janaabah), whether this happened during intercourse
or otherwise, whether he was awake or it happened because of an erotic dream. Madhiy,
on the other hand, means that a person only needs to do wudoo. The evidence for this
is the report of Ali ibn Abi Taalib (may Allaah be pleased with him) who said:
I was a man who used to experience a lot of urethral discharge, so I told Miqdaad to
ask the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) about it. So
he asked him, and he said: It requires wudoo.

(Agreed upon;
this version was narrated by al-Bukhaari). Ibn Qudaamah said in al-Mughni
(1/168), Ibn al-Mundhir said: The scholars agree that passing stools or urine,
the emission of madhiy or passing wind are all things that invalidate tahaarah
(purity) [i.e. they mean that wudoo must be renewed].

The third difference: whether they are taahir (pure) or naajis
(impure)

Maniy is taahir according to the most correct opinion
among the scholars. The evidence for this is the report of Aaishah (may Allaah
be pleased with her) who said: The Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of
Allaah be upon him) used to wash the maniy (from his clothes) then go out to pray
wearing the same clothes, and I could see the spot where he had washed it. (Agreed
upon). According to a report narrated by Muslim: I used to rub it (semen) thoroughly
from the garment of the Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon
him), then he would pray in it. According to another version: I would scratch
it from his garment with my nail when it had become dry. It is proven that the
Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to leave it without washing
it when it was wet; it was sufficient just to wipe it with ood (a kind of
aromatic wood) or something similar, as was reported by Imaam Ahmad in his Musnad
(6/243) from Aaishah (may Allaah be pleased with her), who said: The
Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) used to remove maniy
from his garment with a twig of adhkhar (a kind of tree), then pray in that
garment, and he would rub it from his garment once it was dry, and would pray in the same
garment. Ibn Khuzaymah reported it in his Saheeh, and Shaykh al-Albaani
classed it as hasan in al-Irwa (1/197).

Madhiy (urethral discharge) is naajis (impure), because
of the hadeeth of Ali quoted above, in some versions of which it is reported that
the Prophet
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) commanded him to wash his
penis and testicles and do wudoo, as was reported by Abu Awaanah in al-Mustakhraj.
Ibn Hajar said in al-Talkhees: There is nothing at fault in this isnaad.
So madhiy is naajis and the penis and testicles must be washed, as it
nullifies tahaarah.

Ruling concerning clothing on which there is semen or urethral
discharge

As maniy is deemed to be taahir, if it gets on a
persons clothes it does not make them impure, and if he prays in those clothes there
is nothing wrong with that. Ibn Qudaamah said in al-Mughni (1/763): Even
though we say it is taahir, it is better to rub it, but if one prays (in those
clothes) without rubbing it, this is acceptable.

In the case of madhiy, it is sufficient to sprinkle water on it,
because of the difficulty of doing otherwise. The evidence for this is the hadeeth
narrated by Abu Dawud in his Sunan from Sahl ibn Haneef, who said: I used to
experience a lot of urethral discharge, and I used to do ghusl a lot. I asked the
Messenger of Allaah
(peace and blessings of Allaah be upon him) about it and he said:
It is sufficient for you to do wudoo (to purify yourself) from that. I
said, O Messenger of Allaah, what about when it gets on my clothes? He said:
It is sufficient for you to take a handful of water and sprinkle it on your clothes
wherever you think (the madhiy) is.

(Reported by al-Tirmidhi. He
said: This is a saheeh hasan hadeeth, and the only other hadeeth about madhiy that
we know is the hadeeth of Muhammad ibn Ishaaq).

The author of Tuhfat al-Ahwadhi (1/373) said:
This may be taken to prove that if madhiy gets on one's clothes, it is
sufficient to sprinkle water on it; one does not have to wash it.